dr's corner
Cliff's Top Ten Books
for making some sense of the World in the 21st centuryGreetings.
A number of my friends and colleagues have asked me to update my Top Ten list of books on our www.tooserious.com website. I thought you might like to see it too - so here it is.
These same friends have also asked me to offer some order in which to read them, now that's more difficult but here's a shot at it.
The following is a list of recommendations that directly relate to the subjects I facilitate and speak on. I have read each one of these books several times at different stages of my life. Timeless material.
Before I start…
As you know, I am what is called a cybernetician. One of the definitions of Cybernetics is the study of 'large, messy probabilistic systems', like your brain, the economy, bus schedules - things like that. Having been a student of cybernetics for so long, I appreciate the futility of 'finding the best place to start'. Since everything is connected to everything else, either directly or indirectly, it doesn't much matter. Some routes are just a bit more scenic.
The books can be organized into three topic areas. The first would be Study Enablers. Books to help you with books. One is on speed-reading (if reading is a pain, you just won't do it) and the other is on bullshit detection, both yours and theirs.
The second topic area might be entitled 'What's really going on out there?' These books together describe a way of making sense of that turbulence we call 'The World'.
And the third topic area (which could just as easily have been the second but as someone once said 'time is what prevents everything from happening at once') relates to the Self. That strange yet familiar part of ourselves which, when you get right down to it, is what our precious time on this planet is all about.
I have arranged links directly to Amazon.com for your convenience from my web site, please note that some of these books may need a bit of digging to find them - the search will be worth it.
Enjoy!
cliff
| Cover | Title / Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
study enabler
|
||
|
Speed Reading
Tina Konstant |
Read and recall more written information in less time, with Speed Reading. Includes a variety of easy reading and memory techniques that can be used immediately. |
|
Non-Parametric Statistics
Sydney siegal |
Don't be fooled by the title. This book gives you a simple approach to checking for bias in information, hypotheses or conjectures sold to you by others or by yourself. After all, we all need ways to enhance our ability to detect bullshit. |
|
what's really going on out there?
|
||
|
Ishmael
daniel quinn |
This is the first book in a series designed to get you wondering 'How did the world's societies get to be this way?' and 'Just who were those hunter-gatherers anyway?' |
|
Guns, Germs and Steel: the fates of human
societies
jared diamond |
This book explores the question: 'How come some societies have more stuff than others?' |
|
How Nature Works: the Science of Self Organized
Criticality
per bak |
This book sets out a framework for thinking about 'How come everything seems so turbulent, lumpy, sudden and chaotic?' |
|
Non Zero
robert wright |
This book will take everything you have read so far and offer a simple yet compelling game that seems to have been designed to be at the heart of everything. |
|
The World's Most Dangerous Places
robert young palton |
This scary book offers you the chance to take everything you have read and begin to see the patterns underlying the events in today's real world. |
|
next
As I said earlier this topic could have come
second rather than third. I may as well come
clean - - this topic is what Life is really
about in my opinion. And if importance is
important, then this is important.
|
||
|
Napkin Notes: on the Art of Living
G. Michael Durst |
Durst gets you wondering about 'How come my life isn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be?' He puts the responsibility for our own life back on our own shoulders. Very annoying. |
|
The Secret of the Golden Flower
Richard Wilhelm and C. G. Jung |
There are many transcendental texts dealing with the development of the Self through the yogas, Zen and so on, but this has always been my favourite because my dear yoga teachers, Eugene Halliday and his student Khen Ratcliffe, strongly suggested that I read it. Thanks guys wherever you are now. |
|
The Reappraisal of the Phenomenon of Hypnosis,
Part 1
David Dobson |
This is part 1 of a two-part recording. If you like the first part, you are bound to get the second one. Dobson’s work provides a link between the adept and the aspirant. Here is the conundrum: if the Yogi (or Yogini) doesn’t consciously know how he (she) knows what he (she) knows, then it’s tricky to pass on wisdom to their novices. |
I leave you with a favorite quote:
'Part of the Divinity of being Human is the ability to choose a response.'
Happy reading!
Please feel free to forward this list to friends, family and associates. I'd love to hear from you with your comments and suggestions on any of the above publications. If you have any questions or if you would like book recommendations in other areas, please let me know.